Is BullionStar safe ?

[freedomseeker]

Extract (source: What makes the Singapore economy tick?):
".... Close behind Singapore’s manufacturing industry is its financial services industry, which has enjoyed stable growth due to Singapore’s pro-business environment and political stability. Home to over 200 banks and a regional hub of choice for many global financial services firms, Singapore’s financial services marketplace facilitates the transfer of knowledge, processes, technology and skills between global, regional and domestic markets. ...."
If you are interested in more -> Singapore: GDP of the finance and insurance industry 2021 | Statista

Hong Kong is different since it mostly lives from mainland China. It does not need to attract people from far away to bank there, as recent events show.

It depends on your passport and your permanent residency. Usually you should split your wealth and store it in jurisdictions where you have a certain (personal) connection to.
Offshore banking in the 21. century is banking in the past: It does not really protect you against anything if you are in trouble.

Having said that, if you still believe in the sense of offshore banking, then look for a country outside of the beaten track: E.g. Armenia, Cambodia, Egypt, Philippines, Uzbekistan .... . Pick countries that do not care too much about the West and it's "free-speech-doctrine".

I appreciate your incite, but can I ask a question,

Extract (source: What makes the Singapore economy tick?):
".... Close behind Singapore’s manufacturing industry is its financial services industry, which has enjoyed stable growth due to Singapore’s pro-business environment and political stability. Home to over 200 banks and a regional hub of choice for many global financial services firms, Singapore’s financial services marketplace facilitates the transfer of knowledge, processes, technology and skills between global, regional and domestic markets. ...."
If you are interested in more -> Singapore: GDP of the finance and insurance industry 2021 | Statista

Hong Kong is different since it mostly lives from mainland China. It does not need to attract people from far away to bank there, as recent events show.

It depends on your passport and your permanent residency. Usually you should split your wealth and store it in jurisdictions where you have a certain (personal) connection to.
Offshore banking in the 21. century is banking in the past: It does not really protect you against anything if you are in trouble.

Having said that, if you still believe in the sense of offshore banking, then look for a country outside of the beaten track: E.g. Armenia, Cambodia, Egypt, Philippines, Uzbekistan .... . Pick countries that do not care too much about the West and it's "free-speech-doctrine".

I always enjoy your worldly incite, but in regards to the above countries against SG for storage of assets or gold how would they be safer or better? The above countries seem to have even less developed legal systems, influenced by autocrats. How would they be a better choice, or are we solely talking about more private over safety?

 

[backpacker]

I appreciate your incite, but can I ask a question,

I always enjoy your worldly incite, but in regards to the above countries against SG for storage of assets or gold how would they be safer or better? The above countries seem to have even less developed legal systems, influenced by autocrats. How would they be a better choice, or are we solely talking about more private over safety?

Got your point.
However, democracies and "developed" legal systems are very often your worst enemy.
Autocrats want to protect their nest egg. They do not need to care about public opinion. That's good for everyone who wants to protect his/her own, albeit smaller, nest egg.

Two examples ->

1. Egypt 2011: The Arab Spring, initiated by Western democracies, rolled over the Middle East. Egypt got drawn into this mess, banks closed for several weeks, Mubarak had to leave, the military (caretaker government) took over. The country suffered from a lack of Dollars due to crashing tourism. Foreigners fled the country and with them fled the money. FDI was zero after the Arab Spring. Despite all the upheaval, nobody came up with the idea to touch bank accounts, freeze Dollar-accounts, suggest haircuts or to go into default. All this because the parties involved (the toppled government, the military and even the Muslim Brotherhood) did not want to loose it's nest eggs.
2. Cyprus 2013: A member state of the famed European Union, mother of equality & democracy. This tiny country simply had to manage a self-inflicted debt crisis. The only solution for this democracy: Haircut on all bank accounts.

So, an autocratic country in Northern Africa (Egypt) managed to pay back every single cent + interest to its and had no banking crisis, All this despite a civil unrest, a toppled government and a lack of revenue.
Whereas a democracy with a highly developed legal system (Cyprus), a memberstate of the gorgeous European Union, stole money from ordinary people to get its own finances back in track.

To me it is obvious where my money is safer (and my privacy better protected)!

 

[fc70]

Is BullionStar good to stay online silver storage ?

Deposit mininmum in EUR is 1000 EUR

German Customer

Is it safe? You will only find out when there will be a crisis. I recently looked at buying and storing metal with them; I didn't like this in the fine print:

19. Authorization for BullionStar to Act as Agent

The Customer authorizes BullionStar as an agent, limited in scope, to arrange for the storage, moving and coverage of the Customer’s precious metals holdings, arrange sub-custodians etc. as deemed necessary in the situation. BullionStar may sub-bail the storage of bullion to a secure facility operated by an independent storage service provider. BullionStar may transfer the bullion within different vaults without giving prior notice to the Customer.


10. Personal Collection of Orders in Singapore or New Zealand

....In the case where the release date in the online checkout was indicated as immediately, the products are typically available for pick up as soon as the payment has been received and processed by BullionStar. For items listed with a specific release date in the online checkout, the items will normally be available within 7 business days of the listed date. In extraordinary cases with circumstances outside of BullionStar’s control such as, but not limited to, delays from our suppliers, transportation delays and so forth, BullionStar reserves the right to initiate the delivery within 60 days of the placed order. BullionStar insures all deliveries from its suppliers. In the unlikely event that the items are damaged or missing in transit from its suppliers, BullionStar reserves the right of further delay of the delivery or repayment upon settlement of the claim with its insurer....

 

[Frank in Bangkok]

P.S When a company behaves like this it is a big red flag of an internal or external pressure on them . Don't ignore the signs.

Good advice!

Actual experience:
Recent small transaction, instead of helpfulness to correct a typing mistake, they demanded new KYC scans with selfie.
And very nasty attitude, too.

I'm starting to think their real purpose is to gather ID information, rather than actually trade in metals.

I agree with Martin Everson, "red flag".
What do to??

 

[Sols]

A sudden change in KYC for a single customer can mean your name has appeared on a sanctions/PEP list or some other trigger of suspicious activity,and they have to quickly figure out if it's a genuine match or just a false positive. Nothing to worry about, provided you haven't been selling grenades to North Korea or helped Iran launder money.

A sudden change in KYC for all customers can mean there is compliance audit coming or in progress, often at the request of a regulator. That's a bad sign as it means the regulator suspects the company of wrongdoings. When that happens, play along but minimize your exposure ASAP. Things might be about to get really nasty.

 

[JackAlabama]

A sudden change in KYC for a single customer can mean your name has appeared on a sanctions/PEP list or some other trigger of suspicious activity,and they have to quickly figure out if it's a genuine match or just a false positive. Nothing to worry about, provided you haven't been selling grenades to North Korea or helped Iran launder money.

A sudden change in KYC for all customers can mean there is compliance audit coming or in progress, often at the request of a regulator. That's a bad sign as it means the regulator suspects the company of wrongdoings. When that happens, play along but minimize your exposure ASAP. Things might be about to get really nasty.

Yah this, and maybe they just do not like Thailand as residency option or @Frank in Bangkok s "small transaction" by far exceeds what is considered a small transaction for Thailand, which is more in the 20 Baht region.

If you have residence in a high price, you wont be bothered as much as there even 5-10k $ can be considered average or even small transaction sizes.

edit: I just read in another thread about your passport.
But your passport is for sure a (or even the) key issue, since every country is afraid of getting hit hard by your passport issuing gov.

 

[zonqor]

Never had a problem with them, less then 6 figures seems ok , like the most , a few $K here and there would do the trick!
Anyone attempting very large transaction is asking for a trouble.
My modus operandi is keep it low, no need to move large amounts.....Best to have several accounts and spread it.

 

[BusinessOne]

Is it safe? You will only find out when there will be a crisis. I recently looked at buying and storing metal with them; I didn't like this in the fine print:

19. Authorization for BullionStar to Act as Agent

The Customer authorizes BullionStar as an agent, limited in scope, to arrange for the storage, moving and coverage of the Customer’s precious metals holdings, arrange sub-custodians etc. as deemed necessary in the situation. BullionStar may sub-bail the storage of bullion to a secure facility operated by an independent storage service provider. BullionStar may transfer the bullion within different vaults without giving prior notice to the Customer.


10. Personal Collection of Orders in Singapore or New Zealand

....In the case where the release date in the online checkout was indicated as immediately, the products are typically available for pick up as soon as the payment has been received and processed by BullionStar. For items listed with a specific release date in the online checkout, the items will normally be available within 7 business days of the listed date. In extraordinary cases with circumstances outside of BullionStar’s control such as, but not limited to, delays from our suppliers, transportation delays and so forth, BullionStar reserves the right to initiate the delivery within 60 days of the placed order. BullionStar insures all deliveries from its suppliers. In the unlikely event that the items are damaged or missing in transit from its suppliers, BullionStar reserves the right of further delay of the delivery or repayment upon settlement of the claim with its insurer....

In case Bullionstar goes bankrupt, would they simply keep all the gold/funds of customers and dissapear, or would there be a way to withdraw it?

Also, what kind of "source of funds" documents can they ask in order to prevent people from withdrawing their gold?

 

[Martin Everson]

In case Bullionstar goes bankrupt, would they simply keep all the gold/funds of customers and dissapear, or would there be a way to withdraw it?

btw. Bullionstar operates in three countries now - US NZ and SG. So pay attention to which entity you plan to use.

https://www.bullionstar.com/help/tnc
They say below under 28.3 J):

---- quote start

BullionStar shall not be liable for any loss or damage, cost or expense to the bullion while in storage directly or indirectly due to or as a result of the following situations:

j) Insolvency, administration, bankruptcy, receivership or voluntary arrangements with creditors of any third party.

---- quote end

I don't think anything they can tell you will mirror what will happen in reality. They are linked to US now with US entity so good luck using them.

Also, what kind of "source of funds" documents can they ask in order to prevent people from withdrawing their gold?

Pretty much anything to establish your source of funds and wealth.

---- quote start

The Customer acknowledges that BullionStar reserves the right to return the funds, if possible, and/or terminate the order if there are doubts over the owner, identity or origins of the funds. BullionStar reserves the right to conduct Customer Due Diligence (CDD) or Enhanced Customer Due Diligence (ECDD) as in accordance with the regulatory regime for precious metals dealers in Singapore. The CDD or ECDD may include requests for information verifying the Customer's identity by obtaining information about NRIC number, passport number, occupation, nationality, address, date of birth and contact number. The Customer may be required to show proof of identifying information which BullionStar may copy. The CDD or ECDD may also include requests for information to establish the beneficial owner of funds or metals, questions and verification about income level, source of wealth and source of funds and whether the Customer is indeed the entity or representative of the entity behind the purchase. If no supporting information is provided, BullionStar reserves the right to cancel the order or place the order on hold. If BullionStar is unable to obtain the Customer's identifying information, after requesting for it, the Customer understands that regulations may prohibit BullionStar from completing the transaction and that BullionStar may have to terminate any other transaction entered into with the Customer. BullionStar will not be responsible for any losses due to insufficient/unclear bank and identification details provided by the Customer.

The Customer acknowledges that any unclaimed funds of unknown origin accrue to BullionStar following a period of six years from the funds received by BullionStar.

---- quote end